Let's break that down. That means Intel has bolted, aka "embedded," 128 megabytes of memory onto the Haswell processor. And that discrete memory chip -- which Intel calls "Crystalwell" -- is used as a high-speed cache to boost performance.

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"Unlike previous eDRAM implementations in game consoles, Crystalwell is true 4th level cache in the memory hierarchy. It acts as a victim buffer to the L3 cache, meaning anything evicted from L3 cache immediately goes into the L4 cache. Both CPU and GPU requests are cached," according to Anandtech.

Crystalwell is only offered with Intel's quad-core Haswell, like the one in the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

That large helping of extra high-speed integrated memory is new ground for Intel in consumer products. Is this a new direction for the chipmaker? Let's hope so, as more and more consumer laptops are coming with Intel-only graphics.

And, importantly, all that native Intel silicon integration is easier on battery life than separate GPUs like Nvidia's.

Finally, it is worth mentioning the cluster of 40 execution units -- what Intel calls EUs -- that handle the graphics tasks in Iris Pro. Lower-end Haswell processors don't have as many GPU execution units.

How good is Iris Pro with Crystalwell? It's not a high-end Nvidia GPU, but it's not slow either.

"Iris Pro should...be competent enough to make modern gaming possible...Just because it's not as fast as a discrete GPU doesn't mean that it's not a very good integrated graphics solution," Anandtech said.